Abstract:
The national and international literature on the evaluation of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) focuses on two evaluation modalities present in educational systems in different countries. The first modality, of an external nature, emphasizes homogenization and standardization of evaluation criteria and is centered on regulation, while the second modality, with an internal character and an educational and formative model, emphasizes the institutional differentiation with its own characteristics and peculiarities and is focused on institutional improvement through self-assessment processes. The main objective of this paper is to emphasize the second modality, based on the research carried out at the Catholic University of Salvador in 2014, as part of the institutional self-evaluation, and to analyze the extent to which such an experience can be, simultaneously and complementary form, a basic reference for regulation and, above all, be an internal instrument for institutional restructuring and reorganization. The methodology adopted was the case study, the coexistence of a qualitative-quantitative approach and the technique of empirical data collection resulting from the application of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to the academic community. The main results of the research and the consequent use of these results reveal that institutional self-evaluation may constitute a strong educational management tool, through participatory planning, significantly altering the institution's directions and contributing in a decisive way to the improvement of the University and its courses.
Key words:
Higher education assessment; Institutional self-evaluation; Educational administration